Transportation

As parents, you are an important part of the total safety awareness for students who travel to and from school on our buses. Students benefit from learning to become safe pedestrians and passengers.

Here's how you can help maintain safe bus stop procedures:

Go with your children to the bus stop.

Tell your children to walk in groups, if possible.

Regardless of weather conditions, students must be standing at the designated stop 5 minutes prior to the bus’s scheduled arrival.

If anything is dropped during loading or unloading the bus, children should tell the bus driver, never attempt to retrieve the item themselves.

When your child has to cross the street to get on or off the bus, the driver will advise your child when it is safe to cross in front of the bus. Your child is taught the first day of school to watch for the driver to lower their hand, this is the “safe signal” to know it is safe to cross in front of the bus.PLEASE, NEVER ADVISE YOUR CHILD TO RUN ACROSS THE STREET. YOUR CHILD MUST ALWAYS WATCH THE DRIVER FOR THE SAFE SIGNAL TO CROSS.

General Information from the Ohio Department of Transportation

School bus stops shall be established on the residence side of all four-lane highways and on the residence side of other roadways posing potential hazards to students as determined by the school bus owners.

Student’s must be waiting in the Designated Place of Safety, at his/her stop at least 5 minutes prior to the designated bus arrival time, regardless of weather conditions.

The law does not require parents to see the bus stop from home. Students in Ohio may be assigned to a bus stop up to ½ mile from their home and we encourage parents to accompany their child to the bus stop whenever possible. Bus stop locations are determined by each district’s board of education.

All changes must be made in person at the building level as soon as you are aware of the change. The Transportation Department cannot make any changes to your child’s home address. Once the school has all required information and updated the district database, your child’s transportation needs will be fulfilled. Please contact your child’s school as soon as possible to prevent any disruption in their bus schedule. Please allow 24 hours to process all changes.

If your child misses the bus call The Transportation Office, 419-533-5031 immediately. If the bus is still in the area, and time allows, it may be possible to catch the bus at another stop. However, you may have to transport your child to school.

If a child breaks the bus rules consequence for inappropriate behavior on the bus depends on the infraction. Consequences may range from driver/student conference, change of seating, to removal from the bus. In situations where the infraction is significant, drivers will write disciplinary referrals and refer to the appropriate grade level administrator.

Ohio law requires children to be waiting at the bus stop prior to its arrival. Bus drivers count the students at the bus stop before they load and as they get on the bus to ensure all children are safely on board. If students are not waiting at the bus stop the bus driver cannot count them and cannot be certain the students are all safely on board. Waiting at the bus stop before the bus arrives further ensures that no one chases after the bus – this is a very dangerous thing to do. Many districts also instruct their buses to not stop at locations where no students are waiting.